12OCT22

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms;

Yesterday David and Donald went down back and tried to apply lime to the production fields. "Tried" is the defining word - as they were not very successful.

In keeping with our goal of maintaining costs in the operation of the farm, they attempted to apply the lime with a broadcast spreader. They can attest that this is not the way to apply lime. It is too powdery and they probably lost as much in the air (and on them) as they actually got on the ground.

David applying lime.

They finally got 150 pounds spread. David helped for a couple of hours and Donald finished up at about 3 in the afternoon, and was white from head to toe (yes, he was using personal protective equipment). Not worth the time, effort, and fuel (even though it was the little tractor). As we still need to get over 1 ton of lime down, we needed to look at alternatives (even using a shovel seems like a better idea that a broadcast spreader).

The consensus is that we will need to invest in a drop spreader. We were able to find a Brinly-Hardy 40-inch Aerator Spreader at Home Depot for $200.00 (Sears has the same model for just under $300.00). The aerator will help get the lime into the soil. In addition, the spreader will come in handy when seeding cover crop, though it will not be useful for production crops due to the need for more precise seeding.

Brinly-Hardy 40 in. Aerator Spreader

David will be checking to see if any local stores stock the Brinly, if not, we will be ordering one on-line.

David went down to the test garden earlier this week and harvested the pumpkins and remaining watermelon. While the pumpkins appear to still be growing, we will be mowing the garden down in the next couple of weeks.

We will need to start working on a drip irrigation system for watering the production fields next year, as we already know that we have problems with water delivery. The water for the test garden uses 300 feet of flex line from the main house down the hill to the test garden. For the production fields, we will need most likely need more water pressure, though it is possible that, if we design the drip irrigation system properly, we will be able to use the existing system. The worse case scenario may involve installing a well (probably just as expensive as putting in piping and using rural water). Another alternative is to pump water from the main pond, though this would probably not have worked this year with the drought.

Until next week ...

Blessings from Baker Heritage Farms